Erattupetta is a municipal town located in

Kottayam district Kottayam (), is one of 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettumanoor, and Vaikom. It is the only district in Kerala that neither borders the A ...

, close to the place Aruvithura, state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

,. It is located 38 km east of

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south- ...

, the district capital. Erattupetta Grama Panchayath was founded in 1964 and upgraded to a municipality in 2015. The "Eraaru" part in all the variations of the names arose from the geographical location, where the two rivers (aaru) merge as single one and "Petta" means town. Erattupetta is situated in the foothills of High Ranges. Hence the place is also known as "the gateway of High range/Malanadu."

Etymology

The "Eraaru" part in all the variation of the names arose from the geographical location, where the two rivers (''aaru'') merge as a single one. Erattupetta is situated in the foothills of High Ranges. 'Peta' means town in Dravidian languages. Earlier it was known as 'Erapoli' or 'Erapuzha'. It was the commercial capital of the Poonjar principality until 1949.

Economy

In the past, hill produce from the

Cardamom Hills The Cardamom Hills or Yela Mala are mountain range of southern India and part of the southern Western Ghats located in Idukki district, Kerala, India. Their name comes from the cardamom spice grown in much of the hills' cool elevation, wh ...

were brought down by the ' Muthuvans'' for trade. Erattupetta is a trading centre for spices, rubber, areca nut and other agricultural products.

Wagamon Vagamon ( ml, വാഗമൺ) is an Indian hill station and a revenue village primarily located in Peerumedu taluk of Idukki district (majority area including Vagamon town), and also Meenachil taluk and Kanjirappally taluk of Kottayam di ...

, a Hill Station, lies some 22 km east of Erattupetta. Erattupetta has a large number of expatriate population living in Gulf countries, especially in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Erattupetta had a population of 29,675. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Erattupetta has an average literacy rate of 90%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 76%. In Erattupetta, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Geography

Erattupetta can be accessed easily from north Kerala via the

Angamaly Angamaly (''Aṅkamāli''), , Malayalam : അങ്കമാലി Situated about north of the city centre, the town lies at the intersection of Main Central Road (MC Road) and National Highway 544. MC Road, which starts from Thiruvanantha ...

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting po ...

-Thodupuzha-Muttom route. It is well connected to Tamil Nadu via Kottayam-Kumali (K K) Road to

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

through the nearest town

Mundakkayam Mundakayam, is a town in Kanjirappally Taluk in the Kottayam District of Kerala. It is the doorway to the high ranges of southern Kerala, and is at the border of Kottayam and Idukki districts. The next nearest town, Kanjirappally, is & Erum ...

via

Parathanam Parathanam is a Town at the base of Western Ghats mountain ranges in the Kottayam district, Kerala. It is 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and is situated on the eastern border of Kottayam District, 60 km from Kottayam, 12 km away from Poonjar ...

, which is 27 kilometres from Erattupetta. It has an average elevation of 36 metres (118 feet).

Politics

Erattupetta is a municipality. The current municipal chairperson is Suhara Abdul Khader. Erattupetta comes under the Pathanamthitta loksabha constituency and the Poonjar assembly constituency. Erattupetta is represented in the Loksabha by Anto Antony and in the state assembly by Sebastian Kulathunkal. P.C.Geroge (Planthottathil Chacko George), who served as the MLA (

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

) Kerala state for 33 years, is from Aruvithura.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* https://erattupettamunicipality.lsgkerala.gov.in/en/ * http://lsgkerala.in/erattupettapanchayat/ Cities and towns in Kottayam district